William Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr
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The Earl De La Warr | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 October 1921 |
| Died | 9 February 1988 (aged 66) London, England |
| Spouse |
Anne Rachel Devas (m. 1946) |
| Children | 3, including William and Thomas |
| Father | Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr |
William Herbrand Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr DL (/ˈdɛləwɛər/ ⓘ 16 October 1921 – 9 February 1988) was a British peer. He inherited the earldom on 28 January 1976 on the death of his father Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr.[1]
Earl De La Warr was educated at Eton College, and fought in World War II, attaining the rank of captain in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army.[1] After the war, on 18 May 1946, he married Anne Rachel Devas (grandniece of a former Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman).[citation needed] They had three children:[1]
- William Herbrand Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr, born 10 April 1948
- Thomas Geoffrey Sackville, born 26 October 1950
- Lady Arabella Avice Diana Sackville, 20 June 1958 – 18 June 2022[2]
In September 1981, the Earl allowed Doctor Who to film on his large tranche of Ashdown Forest for the episode "Black Orchid".[3]
In the autumn of 1987, the earl offered to sell that forest, the direct inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, to the East Sussex County Council at a below-market price of £1.2 million for the 6,500 acres (2,600 ha).[4][5] As young children, the future earl and Christopher Robin Milne had played together there.[6][7] Milne himself joined conservationists to prevent the forest from being sold piecemeal to private owners, and to oppose BP's plan to prospect and extract oil there.[5][8] The sale to the council was concluded after the earl's death, making the forest public land.[5]
On 9 February 1988, at age 66, Earl De La Warr died after falling under a train at the St James's Park station of the London Underground.[4][9] An inquest ruled the death to be a suicide, with a jury finding that the earl had been "anxious and upset over hurricane damage to his estate".[10]